Rail-cleaning and lubricating attachment for locomotives



(No Model.)

H. T. GURRIE. RAIL CLEANING AND LUBRIGATING ATTACHMENT FOR LOCOMOTIVES. No. 444,694. Patented Jan. 13, 1891.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HORACE T. OURRIE, OF ALBINA, OREGON.

RAIL-CLEANING AND LUBRlCATlNG ATTACHMENT FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 444,694, dated January 13, 1891.

Application filed March 12, 1890. Serial No. 343,573. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HORACE T. (JURRIE, of Albina, in the county of Multnomah and State of Oregon, have invented a new and Improved Rail-Cleaning and Lubricating Attachment for Locomotives, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved attachment for locomotives, which serves to remove the sand from the rails at the rear of the driving-wheels and to lubricate the saidrails to permit the wheels of the cars to run smoothly over the rails.

The invention consists of nozzles connected with a liquid supply on the locomotive and adapted to be projected to within a short distance of the heads of the rails by the pressure of the liquid and to be automatically retracted when the pressure is out off.

The invention also consists in certain parts and details and combinations of the same, as will be described hereinafter, and then pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the figures.

Figure 1 is an end elevation of the improvement as applied to a locomotive, the latter being shown in transverse section, the sectionline passing through the cab; and Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional side elevation of one of the nozzles.

In the cab of the locomotive A, of any approved construction, is arranged a pipe B, provided with a valve 0 and connected with the injector or with the boiler directly or with any other suitable means for supplying the said pipe with a liquid. The pipe B extends downward under the floor of the cab and con nects at its lower end witha T D, from which extend downward and in opposite directions the pipes E, each opening into a cylinder F, pointing toward the head of the respective side rail G.

In each cylinder F is held to slide a piston II, on which is secured a hollow piston-rod I, extending through the lower cap F of the cylinder F and carrying at its outer end a noz zle J, which points toward the heads of the respective rails G. The piston H isprovided with a central aperture registering with the hollow piston-rod I, so that theliquid. flowing down the pipe B, the T D, and the pipe E in to the said cylinder can flow from the latter through the hollow piston II, the hollow piston-rod I, and to the nozzle J, which directs the stream of liquid onto the head of the rail in the rear of the rear locomotive drivewheels A.

A spring K is held in each cylinder I and is coiled around the respective piston-rods I, one end of the said spring resting against the cap I and the other end against the face of the piston H. This spring serves to hold the piston H in an uppermost position, so that the nozzle .T abuts against the outside of the cap F when not in use. The cylinders are supported by suitable braces or other framework from the under side of the floor of the cab of the locomotive.

The operation is as follows: When the locomotive A pulls a train up a grade, the engiuser in charge of the train runs sand onto the rails G in front of the locomotive drive-wheels, so as to prevent the drive=wheels from slipping. Now the sand remaining on the rails after the drive-wheels have passed. over it causes an undue friction on the following carwheels, and in order to remove this undue friction my device is employed, which serves to remove the sand from the rails immediately behind the rear drive-wheels, at the same time lubricating the rails, so that the following car wheels run over smooth rails.v hen the engineer opens the sand-box, he also opens the valve C in the pipe D, so that water from the injector or boiler or other liquid-supply can pass through the pipe B to the cylinders F and through the hollow pistons H, the pis ton rods I, and the nozzles J onto the heads of the rails, thus carrying off the sand and at the same time lubricating the said rails. The liquid flowing down the pipe B to the cylinders F is usually under pressure, so that the force of the liquid pressing against the pistons H forces the same outward against the tension of the springs K, thus moving the nozzles .I to within a short distance of the heads of the rails. As soon as the pressure 011 the fluid is cut off by the engineer closing the Valve (1 the compressed springs K again force the pistons l-I upward to their former position-that is, until the nozzles J rest against the lower caps F of the cylinders F. This is done to keep the nozzles J out of the Way of any obstructions which may possibly be on the track, so that the nozzles will not be broken off.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a rail-cleaning and lubricating attachment for locomotives, the combination, with a locomotive and a liquid-supply pipe carried by the locomotive, of a nozzle carried by the pipe and adapted to be projected to Within a short distance of the heads of the rails by the pressure of liquid and to be automatically retracted when the pressure of the liquid is cut ofi, substantially as described.

2. In a rail-cleaning and lubricating attachment for locomotives, the combination, with a liquid-supply pipe, of a cylinder on the end of the said pipe, a nozzle carried by the said cylinder and adapted to be projected by the pressure of the liquid, and a spring for retracting the nozzle, substantially as herein shown and described.

3. In a rail-cleaning and lubricating at tachment for locomotives, the combination, with a liquid-supply pipe provided with a valve, of cylinders connected with the said supply-pipe, a spring-pressed piston held in each of the said cylinders and provided with a central opening, a hollow piston-rod extending from each of the said pistons, and a nozzle held on the'outer end of each hollow piston-rod and adapted to discharge onto the head of the rail in the rear of the drive- Wheels, substantially as shown and described.

HORACE T. CURRIE. 

